Machine for flame tempering cams



Dec. 13, 1949 w. Y. ROBB 2,491,134

MACHINE FOR FLAME TEMPERING CAMS Filed May 21. 1946 s Sheeis-Sheet 1INVENTOR 'WAL TEI? YROBB f/T. ATTORNEY Dec. 13, 1949 w. Y. ROBB MACHINEFOR FLAME TEMPERING CAMS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 21. 1946 \NVENTORWALTER moss ATTORNEY Dec. 13, 1949 w. Y. ROEsB 7 2,491,134

MACHINE FOR FLAME TEIVIPERING CAMS Filed May 21, 1946 s Sheets-Sheet 5lNVENTOR WALTER XROBB firm? ATTORNE Patented Dec. 13, 1949 UNI'T-EDSTATES PATENT OFFICE 2-,491,134 MACHINE FOR FLAME TEMPERiNG Walter Y.Robb, Whitinsville, Mass-l, assignor to Qrompton & Knowles Loom Works,Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Ap lien'tion May 21-,1946, serial No. 671,325

. 6 Claims. I 1

"This inventieii relates to improvements in apearatus tor temperingcams, gears, and the like, and it is genera object of the invention toprovide a'sirnpl'e mechanism by which a tempering iiilit tan be giiidedalong a path corresponding to the contour to be heat treated.

Many cams and gears, such for instance as these uses in the mennreotureor looms, are made or cast iron one ordinarily weer out at such a fastrate as to require frequent renewal. It is possible to harden certaialloys of cast iron b'y sw je ting them first to the action or a flameand then immediatel quenching to chill the heated parts. The heatingshould be no more than just snmotent to provide the desired degree oihardness, and one method or effecting this resuit is to m re thesu'rtaees to be hardened relatitly to "a eating and qliench ing head orunit.

it is an important object of my invention to provide means by which thework to be com peter: is moved with respect to e tempering head and thelatter is controlled in such manner as to harden certain desired parts rthe wo k. This latter result may be accomplished by the use, of a mastersimilar to the work piece and operative to cause movement oi thetempering heed aion'g a path similar to a path on the master.

Soiiie cams vary considerably with respect to the radial aistanee oftheir several parts from the 6am axis, part of the contour beingrelatively close to the axis and ot er parts being farther from theaiiis. it is desirable that the rate of heating be 'uiiiforrfi along thecontour of such a cam, but this is not possible if the cam turns at auniform speed, since the parts of small radius wouid be overheated whilethe parts of large radius would be tinder heated. Accordingly, it isanother object or my invention to provide means for varying the angularrate at which the work cani is mov d in inverse ro ortion to the radiusoi the part being tempered. Thus, the work cam turns at a relativelyhigh angular rate when a contour or small radius is being heated, butturns at a slow ang'ular rate when a oontour of large radius is beingheated. In this way a uniform linear travel of the part being heated isobtained with respect to the tempering head.

it is a further object or myinvention to provide a support for theinaster and work parts soeonstructed as to permit quick application ofthe work oain to the machine while at the same time insuring its re strywith t e ma ter mm. It is still enothetobieot or the invention to mountthe tempering head for ready removal from the bath time inaster teamwhen the latter is to be With these and other objects in view which willappear as the description proceeds, my' invention resides in t e eonbination and arrangement or posts here nafter described and set forth.

In the acdompanying drawings, wherein a eonvenient, embodiment of myinvention is set forth,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a tempering 'ma= 'chine made according tomy present invention Fig; 2 is a side elevation looking in the directionof arrow 2, Fig. I,

Fig. '3 is a plan view looking in the direction of arrow 3-, Fig. 2,parts being omitted,

4 is an enlarged transversesction on line l-410i Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation, parts tre moved, of one of thetempering heads,

Fig. 6 is a rear elevation looking in the direction of arrow 6, Fig. 2,and Figs. 7 and 8 are diagrammatic vie'w's showing the tempering head inposition for tempering contours of large and small radii, respectively.

The invention is usable for the name hardening of a varieti'z ofdifferent mechanical elements, bat in order to illustrate the inventionI have shown the same as adapted for the tempering of a tiaek or grooveeam. Referring p'artiiilarl'y to Figs. 1 and 2 the apparatus or machinecomprises a frame It having a base H and side members l2 and [3 whichpreferably converge u weton toward each other and support a member Mfrom which-extends a fixed horizontal stun 15. The maohineoperates witha master c'a'm M and a work *e am W. These cams are similar and in theresent instanoe "are provided with noneireu-lar contours. 'rheniosterhas a guide track or groo've I6 one part ll of which is or relativelylar e radius and another part It or which has a relatively short radius.In similar manner the work "cam has a work track or groove l9 similar togroove 16 and has a contour the parts 20 and 21 of which, respeetively,have large and small ra'dii Corresponding to the parts 11 and I8 oi themaster cam.

Mounted rot rotation 'st'ud I5 is a sit-eve '25 on whioh name M and Ware mounted; A ollai' 25 between the c'a-ins is mounted on the sleeveand fixes thereto by means or a set screw 21. sleeve 25 fits the bores30 and 3|; respectively, or cams M and W, and maintains the lattereoneehtne with the axis or s'tud I5. A positioning bar 3 2 shown moreparticiiliafrli'z in Fig. 6 is seoiii'ed as at 33 to a lug 34 on "collar26 and projeots interest on e'eoh side or the mg.

I the master earn has a groove 35 ieeivih'g the right end or thepositioning bar 32 as viewed Fig. '6; and in similarjnanner the workingone has a groove 36 which receives the left ens or bar 32. These twoerooves occupy the same position with respect to the contou s of theirfieseetive cams, and-since the an 3-2 is straight and parallel to studIS; the the cams are held in register on the sleeve 25. The bar 32oaiises rotation or the two oaths at the same angular rate as the sleeverotates. A oollai' I0 is see'uiea to the outer or free end of stud I tohold sleeve 25 on the stud. Other collars 4| and 42 are loose on thesleeve. A driving pulley 45 is integral with sleeve 25 and is held bycollar 40 against the member I4.

The structure just described is shown more particularly in Fig. 6 andthe upper part of Fig. 1, and when the parts are as shown with the setscrew 27 tight, the pulley 45. sleeve 25, registering bar 32, and boththe master and work cams turn in unison about the axis of stud I5 withthe cam contours in register.

The flame tempering part of the apparatus and the controller therefor,shown more particularly in Figs. 2 and 3, comprises a unit designatedherein generally at 50. This unit includes a support 5I secured as at 52to the upper end of a lever 53. The latter is secured at its lower end.to a shaft 54 rockable in a bearing 55 secured as at 55 to the frame ofthe machine. The support 5i has a lateral arm 51 on which is rotatablymounted a roll or cam follower 58 for entry into the groove I6 of themaster cam M. This groove is defined by outer and inner guide flanges 59221d 69, respectively, which position the follower As shown moreparticularly in Fig. 3, the support 5i is provided with a pivot screw BIthe axis of which is substantially parallel to the axis of stud I5,although this latter relation is not essential. Pivoted on the screw BIis a carrier 62 which normally rests on a support shelf 63 formed aspart of the support 5!. In order to hold the carrier 62 in normalposition on the shelf I provide a lock 64 pivoted as at B5 to thesupport 5|. When the lock is in the full line position shown in Fig. 3it holds the carrier in normal position against the shelf 63. When it ispulley 84 secured to a shaft 85 journaled in a bearing 85 fixed withrespect to the frame In but preferably adjustable relatively thereto bythe connections indicated generally at 81. A small pulley B8 on shaft 85drives a belt 89 which leads to a variable speed mechanism designatedgenerally at 90. This mechanism includes a lever 9| rockable on astationary stud 92 and having one end thereof connected as at 93 to adepending rod 94. The latter is connected to an arm 95 secured to theshaft 54 and moving with lever 53.

That end of lever 9! opposite the rod 94 has secured thereto a laterallyextending stud 96 on which two end pulley flanges 91 and 98 arerotatably mounted. Slidably mounted between these flanges is a pulleyelement 99 having beveled surfaces I00 corresponding to beveled surfacesIIlI on the flanges 91 and 98. A collar I02 secured to the outer end ofstud 96 limits motion of flange 9'! to the right, Fig. l, and lever 9|limits motion of flange 98 to the left.

Belt 89 engages the flange 98 and the left part of the element 99 asviewed in Fig. 1, while the right part of the element 99 and the otherflange desired to swing the carirer 62 out of the path of Y the mastergear M when the latter is being removed from the machine the lock 64 ismoved to the dotted line position in Fig. 3, after which the carrier isswung to the right about the pivot screw 6| or to the dotted lineposition shown in Fig. 3.

The carrier in the present instance supports two heating and quenchingheads 66 and 61, the first head for the outer work flange 68 of the workcam corresponding to the work flange 59 of the master cam, and the otherhead for the inner flange 99 of the work cam. These heads are alikeexcept that they face in opposite directions and as shown moreparticularly in Fig. 5 each head is supplied with a gas mixture by meansof conduit I9 and with water by means of a conduit H. The gas conduitcommunicates with a chamber I2 the walls of which are perforated as atI3, and in similar manner the water pipe communicates with a chamber I5the walls of which are perforated as at I5.

When the carrier 62 is in its normal position the two heads 66 and 51are located in substantial register or alignment with the follower 58and are spaced slightly from their respective cam flanges, as indicatedin Fig. 4. It will be apparent 91 engages a belt I93 which drives thepulley 45. The mechanism 99 operates in such man: ner that when it risesbelt 89 tightens and causes lateral sliding of the pulley element 99 tothe right as viewed in Fig. 1. Belt 89 then engages flange 98 andelement 99 along a reduced circumference, while belt I93 engages element99 andflange 91 along an increased circumference. Thechange in diametersof those parts of the element 99 engaged by the belts 89 and I83 causesa variation in the speed at which pulley 45 is driven.

In assembly, the sleeve 25 is fitted onto stud I5 and collar 42 isslipped over th free end of the sleeve and moved against the pulley 45,after which the master cam M is fitted to the sleeve in such manner thatthe roll follower 58 will enter the track I6. The collar 26 is thenslipped over the free end of th sleeve and moved against the master camwith the advancing end of the registering bar 32 entering groove 35. Setscrew 21 is then tightened, after whichwasher 4'! is slipped over thesleeve, and then the work cam W is placed on the sleeve in such positionthat the other end of the registering bar 32 will enter groove 39. Thewasher 49 is then tightened on the outer end of the stud I5 and is solocated as to establish a snug fit between all the parts on the sleeve25. When thus assembled the registering bar 32 not only causes thecontours of the master and work cams to be in register with each other,but also causes the cams to turn whenever sleeve 25 is rotated by thepulley 45. The cams turn in the direction of arrow 11., Fig. 4, so thatcam W moves downwardly toward the heating flame and then away from thequenching part of the tempering head.

The various pulleys are so proportioned and related to the speed of themotor that when the latter is running the cams will turn at such a rateas will permit correct heating of those parts of the flanges of the workcam as are opposite the tempering head. It will be apparent that thevariable speed drive will reduce the speed at which the cams are turningwhen the follower 58 is moved away from the axis of stud l5 andconversely will increase the speedwhen the follower moves toward thestud I5. In this way a uniform linear travel of the work cam relativelyto the tempering head isestablished. In those instances in which thecams have contours which rotates, a tempering head between said masterand work cams, a pivotal mounting on said support for said temperinghead, means normally positioning said pivotal mounting to align saidfollower and head in a direction parallel to said axis, said master cambeing removable by movevment along said axis in a direction toward saidtempering head and work cam, and said tempering head being movable aboutsaid pivotal mounting thereof to a position out of the path of themaster cam when the latter is removed.

5. In a work cam tempering machine having a frame, the work cam rotatingon the frame about an axis and having a non-circular work cam groovelocated between work flanges on said cam, a master cam similar to saidwork cam rotating about said axis in unison with the work cam and inalignment with the latter in a direction parallel to said axis andhaving a noncircular guide cam groove between two guide flanges on saidmaster cam, a support movably mounted with respect to said frame in adirection toward and from and transversely of said axis, a follower onsaid support located between said guide flanges moving toward and fromand transversely of said axis as said master cam rotates, and atempering head on said support aligned with the follower in a directionparallel to said axis and located in said work cam groove and effectiveto temper both of said work flanges simultaneously as said cams rotate.

6. In a work cam tempering machine having a frame, the work cam rotatingon the frame about an axis and having a non-circular work cam groovelocated between work flanges on said cam, a master cam similar to saidwork cam rotating about said axis in unison with the work cam and. inalignment with the latter in a direction parallel to said axis andhaving a noncircular guide cam groove between two guide flanges on themaster cam, a support movably mounted with respect to said frame in adirection toward and from and transversely of said axis, a follower onsaid support located between said guide flanges moving toward and fromand transversely of said axis as the master cam rotates, and a pair oftempering heads mounted on said support and located in said work camgroove between said work flanges, one head for each work flange, saidtempering heads being effective to temper both of said work flangessimultaneously as said cams rotate.

WALTER Y. ROBB.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,599,611 Dover Sept. 14, 19261,711,633 Dornseif May 7, 1929 2,116,262 Grandberg et al. May 3, 19382,170,876 Shorter Aug. 29, 1939 2,429,559 Matson Oct. 21, 1947 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 176,750 Great Britain Sept. 7, 1922

